POP-UP BLOCKERS

It’s come to my attention that a lot of you use pop-up blockers with your browsers. In general, that’s a great idea but you have to make sure you’re not blocking anything to do with this site. All my links are designed to spawn new browser windows to keep my blog in its original window. So, if you’re using the Google Toolbar, for example, to block pop-ups and I decide to, I dunno, link to a story about two NFL cheerleaders having sex in a bathroom stall, you’re gonna get nothing.

I also tend to post my own personal pictures that pop-up in a larger window. If you got pop-ups blocked on my site, then all you’ve got to look at are tiny thumbnails.

Every pop-up blocker application has functionality to allow you to specify sites that should bypass the blocking. Here’s to more cheerleader sordidness and less blocking!

GOOGLE HACKING

The term “Google hacking” doesn’t actually refer to the act of hacking into Google’s web servers. Instead, it’s a method of leveraging Google’s immense search capabilities to find information that might not have been intended for public viewing.

Google’s Googlebot crawls nearly every nook and cranny of the Internet, looking for information as it classifies as much of the web as it can. Because it’s so effective, it can find many unsecured areas of web servers that some administrators did not intend for people to go looking. The result is a wealth of files, info, images, and documents that can be accessed just by using the right combination of search terms. There’s even a web site that’s amassed a list of Google searches that can yield specific information. It’s a bit techy, so let’s start with some simple stuff.

Let’s say you want to look for images just sitting in a directory. All you have to do is click on the link below. It’ll give you results for unsecured image directories. You can narrow the search by adding more specific terms, say “birds” if you want bird images. I’m sure your imagination can run wild. There’s some crazy stuff out there if you know what to look for.

Search for unsecured images

You can repeat the search using the term “movies” instead. You’ll find a lot of research based movies from university sites, anything from solar flares to animals in their habitats.

Search for unsecured movies

Let’s take it in a new direction. Why don’t we search for resumes? In a sense, resumes are kinda for public consumption but maybe they weren’t meant to be directly seen by everyone on the Internet. Nevertheless, here they are for viewing.

Search for resumes on-line

There are a lengthy list of things you might want to find on the Internet. Experiment by changing the key search terms. You might be surprised by what you find!

WEEKEND WRAPUP

For the record, I did go back to Swiss Chalet on Friday to once again try to clear my name with Megan/Meghan. Once again, I was informed that she was not working that night. It appears she may not be working Fridays at all now. I wonder if that has anything to do with us? I neglected to ask what her new schedule was. Nevertheless, I had a fabulous double-leg dinner which never disappoints. Tasty!

On Friday, the inevitable also happened. Someone from work found my blog. It didn’t come as a surprise really. I knew it would happen but I just didn’t know when. All it really takes is to put my name in Google and there you go. That’s what Tim did around 5pm. I saw the access on my server logs about 20 minutes later. I was also able to see he searched for his name on my blog. The search came up empty of course. From the day I started my job, I was very cognizant of the dangers of putting too much info about work on a blog. People have been fired from their jobs for doing exactly that. So while you’ll read about what game I’m working on and when I’m working OT, you’ll get very little info about my co-workers or anything that personal. I certainly wouldn’t air out on my blog any beefs I might have with upper management. You’ll have to ask me in person if I have any of those.

The rest of the weekend was quite uneventful. I drove out to UBC on Saturday to play hockey with what turned out to be a disappointing crowd. It was 3 on 2 for most of the time. Tyson did his best in asking a ton of SJC people to play. Nearly everyone’s excuse was that they had too much work to do. No matter how bad SJC will continue to slide into suckiness, that excuse will always be there.

After hockey, we headed on over to the Thunderbar for some beer, food, and the Canucks game. The T-Bar is a decent place to watch several games actually. The bar overlooks the ice surface so if you’re lucky, like we were, you get to see UBC varsity hockey at the same time. For those living on-campus, you can’t beat the convenience, especially if you’re itching to get back to work after the game.

Sunday was a most boring day, the highlight being my trip to Safeway to buy an 8-pack of frozen pizza.

That is all.

THE REGULARS

For about two months now, I’ve been taking the same bus every morning to work. I’m not alone in this habit. I regularly see the same people on my bus. Some are unremarkable in their appearance and behaviour, they’re just normal folk trying to get to where they need to go.

Then there are those who make me wonder what the hell their story is. The most notable person is this woman in her 40s or so. She’s got really dark, jet black hair which makes me believe it might be dyed so. Her hair is about shoulder length and she’s tied it so that a single tail comes out of the top of her head. It’s not a good look. She also has these really thick glasses, your prototypical Coke bottles if you may. The quirks are many for this person. First, she has this big fascination with newspapers. On most mornings she’s got at least the Vancouver Sun and/or one of the free morning dailies with her. Yeah, a lot of people read on the bus, but she’s different. Every once in a while, she’ll feel the need to rip out huge sections of the paper out. This isn’t coupon clipping, we’re talking pages at a time. She’ll stuff the ripped out pieces in her handbag. What she does with them is still a mystery to me.

Her other quirk verges on the annoying. This woman seems constantly late for something. She’s always looking out the window to see what the traffic conditions are in front of the bus. It’s like she’s always behind schedule and needs to be somewhere five minutes ago. Whenever we get into heavy traffic or a construction zone, she’ll start to fret and mutter to herself. Weird. She’ll also start to mumble quietly when the bus has to pull over to pick up passengers along the route. Doubly weird. She gets off the bus one stop before me downtown. I have no idea where she’s going. A job? Paper recyling plant?

There’s also an older gentleman who seems to have warped space around his body. When you look at him, he doesn’t seem like a big guy. He looks slightly portly but I wouldn’t say at all fat. When he sits down though, he takes up like a seat and a half. I don’t get it. He seems to be all the way over to his side but his body is so wide. Also, and this is completely unfounded, he kinda looks like one of those older guys that you later find out was a Nazi who fled to Canada to hide from his past. Man, conjecture is fun ain’t it?

The final person is this younger guy who is obviously a university student. At first I thought he might be an SFU student taking classes downtown but I’ve seen him run for the 44 and 99B. He’s clearly a UBC student. He must live somewhere in Coquitlam and commutes everyday to UBC. You know I’ve heard of these poor bastards that have to do that everyday but this is the first time I’ve seen one in person. He usually has a chemistry book out. I’m guessing he’s either a first or second year student. If he’s a first-year, I’ll give him the rest of the year tops before he goes crazy from the commute. He’s also got the narrowest jeans I’ve seen in decades. They narrow down to basically the width of his ankles. It’s straight outta of the 80s. It maybe the jeans that causes this but he sits with his legs crossed in a manner that if I tried it, I’d crack both my walnuts.

Hey, wouldn’t it be neat if someone else on that bus was writing about me in their blog?

BAH

Both Google and Blogger were both down the entire time that I wanted to post. They only restored service just now but me gots to go to bed. The meaning of life will have to wait another day.

FINDING A GIRLFRIEND

There’s a pretty good thread going on at the Discover Vancouver web site message board. Some guy in Vancouver got tired of being lonely and starting posting his experiences trying to get dates in the city.

If he’s at all genuine, I think it’s a pretty bold move to be revealing all your dating activities (or lack of them) on a public forum. The next thing you know, he’ll be telling us what he had for lunch everyday.

He’s a gotten a lot of support from other people who check in periodically to see how he’s doing. Of course, he’s got a lot of detractors as well. A few have said without extremely good looks and/or a wad of cash, he’ll be destined to stay single in Vancouver as, in their opinion, a large majority of women in this city are superficial ice queens. While certainly there are exceptions to this rule, I’ve seen the exact type of woman that’s described on many occasions. For normal guys in Vancouver, dating is indeed a very difficult activity.

I’m hoping the poster finds some measure of success but nevertheless, it’s fun to read his exploits.

ONE NIGHT AT THE OPUS

Many months ago, my sister gave me for Christmas a one night stay at the Opus Hotel in Yaletown. It was a very thoughtful and expensive gift but I had no opportunity to cash in on it while I was living out by UBC.

Since the gift certificate was to expire at the end of December and since I’ve been exiled to the wastelands of suburbia, I booked a room and stayed downtown this past Saturday. It also helped that Adam’s farewell evening was also on Saturday. For once, I wouldn’t have to worry about making the long trek back to the suburbs after an evening out with friends.

I checked into the hotel around 3:30pm or so. I’ve been to the Opus before: once at the Elixir restaurant for dinner (pricey!) and also at the hotel bar for drinks. Some of you long-time readers might recognize the Opus bar as the last stop before Behennah and Woba drove off to Seattle at 2am on a whim.

I was give what turned out to be a “superior room“. The Opus is considered to be a boutique hotel, meaning it’s smaller than your average chain hotel, it’s supposed to offer higher levels of service, and of course, it’s going to cost you more. My room was unlike any other hotel room I’ve been in. Rather than your standard white walls, the room had a bluish colour theme to it.

The bathroom was the most interesting part of the room. In your standard hotel room, the bathroom usually has no windows. In my Opus hotel room, the only windows in the room are in the bathroom. The bathroom had floor to ceiling windows and was the only place you could go if you wanted to look outside and onto the street. Obviously you would need some privacy if you wanted to do your business and that’s where these two windows screens come in. One screen was like a partial light filter that obscured some of the view but could still let silhouttes show through. There was also another one that was completely opaque that gave you the most privacy. For the record, I felt comfortable enough to tinkle with only the partial screen down. The bathroom tiles were also heated to a temperature of your desire. There wasn’t a tub to soak in but the shower was shaped like a wedge that easily could have fit two people. There’s also no bathroom door. Two Japanese style sliding doors serve as the only way to separate the bathroom from the rest of the room.

The rest of the room was nicely appointed and the queen sized bed was quite comfy. There was an in-room safe, ironing board, iron, TV, hair dryer, and umbrella. Also available was this oxygen canister that you could take O2 from at $8 per hit. How trendy! Room service can be had at all hours of the day and night. I quickly flipped through the menu where I discovered a BLT sandwich with fries would have set me back $15 not including the $3.50 delivery fee plus taxes and gratuities. Local calls were $1.25 per call and there was a high-speed internet port at the desk ($16 for 24 hours of access).

When I returned to my room after the evening out I discovered they also have a turn down service. A card displaying tomorrow’s weather forecast was placed on the bedside table as was two chocolates on the bed.

They do treat you nice at the Opus and everything is very cosmopolitan and modern. This does come at a price, starting at around $200 a night. If you have the cash, I’d recommend the hotel for sure but for those on a budget, there are better values out there.

P.S. When I returned to my hotel room at around 2am, there were tons of people still out on the street downtown in their costumes. It’s weird, but it appears that to women in their 20s, “dressing up” for Halloween means wearing anything plus a tiny, short skirt and knee high boots. Where was I when that memo got sent out?